In Memory of Me
by Setsun
Summary: Regina is about to cast a new curse.13 year old Emma makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to forget her family in order to ensure that the curse will be broken. Eventually she is captured by Captain Hook to be used as a pawn in his quest for revenge. Somehow, the pirate falls for the princess, but what happens when she finally remembers who she really is?
1. A Birthday

**Author's Note: This fic is AU. Rumpelstiltskin decides that he will lose too much with the dark curse, so he makes sure that it can't be cast. 13 years later, Regina is ready to cast a different curse. The savior goes to Rumpelstiltskin to make a deal, but magic always comes with a price. Emma goes on a quest to save her family and to reunite the dark one with his son, but the price is more than either of them imagined. Emma eventually becomes a pawn in Captain Hook's quest for revenge. Eventual Emma/Hook. There will be violence and mature content. Hook is every bit the villain when Emma meets him in this fic.**

Chapter One

Regina was angry. She could not summon the sorrow she knew she once would have felt, instead feeling her ever present rage roaring to life, consuming her every thought. She had been _so close_ to finally having _her_ happy ending, and ending everyone else's. She shuddered, the memory of high pitched laughter echoing in her mind. _Mocking her_.

She could not mourn her father's passing. She did mourn that she had not caused it.

She would kill the one who had.

Rage burned in her dark eyes as she gently lowered a bouquet of black roses in front of the gravestone.

 _Henry Mills_

 _Beloved father_

Regina hated it. Beloved. The only person she had left to love. Gone. Gone with him, her chance at a happiness.

Somehow, she knew, Snow White was to blame. It always came back to Snow.

* * *

"My father is dead. Your curse does me no good!" She yelled, striding through the cave and slamming her hand against the bars. "You promised me _vengeance."_

From the shadows approached the little man, his mottled skin even more grotesque than usual in the flickering torchlight of the cave. "Well hello to you too, dearie!" He giggled, sauntering up to the bars, inches from her own seething face. "Your father is dead? Tut tut. I expected you to know to protect the things you hold dear. Seems to me you don't really want vengeance after all." He turned, took two steps, and turned back. "How… did he go, dear? Old age?"

His giggle grated her nerves and she wished she could end him on the spot. She shook with the force of her rage, her knuckles white on the bar of the cell. "He was murdered." she seethed, "His throat was cut."

"Not exactly a dignified end for Prince Henry!" He gestured wildly with his arms, ending in a flourish "Funny, isn't it, how easy it is to snuff out a prince. Not that you've managed." The last was said in a whisper, taunting, as he stepped closer to her. Then he growled, "So what do you want with me, now that you've squandered away your best chance?"

She flinched back, then stepped back two paces. "I want to know how to fix it."

"You can't bring people back from the dead, dearie! You know that better than most." He sing-songed.

"I know that!" She snapped, the rage in her eyes burning ever higher, and she paced like a lioness in front of the bars. "There must be another way. I _will_ have my vengeance!"

"And what, exactly, are you willing to do for it?"

" _Anything."_

He giggled, dancing a little jig, excessively pleased. She had the sinking feeling that that was what he had wanted all along.

"I might know _just_ the thing."

The maniacal laughter made the hairs at the nape of her neck stand on end.

* * *

- _13 years later_ -

Emma laughed out loud as her father spun her out on the dance floor, making her skirts spin around her in a wave of sparkling blue silk. Her long blonde hair was elegantly arranged in ringlets pinned up to the back of her head, finished by a silver tiara adorned with aquamarines.

King David grinned at his oldest child, pulling her back into himself to continue that dance. "You have grown into quite the strong and beautiful young lady, my dear. Happy birthday."

Emma's heart swelled with pride at the compliment. She loved her parents very much, and wanted nothing more than to make them proud. The thirteen year old channeled her wish to please her parents into every choice she made, hating to see them upset. In moments like these, that self discipline paid off. "Thank you very much!" She said, beaming up at her father. Emma looked like her father, fair with blonde hair, but instead of his blue, she had her mother's green eyes.

Snow White was incandescently happy to be able to witness her daughter's thirteenth birthday ball. She remembered a time when they were not sure that they would be able to have these moments as a family. Over the years, the dread in her heart had eased as she watched her children grow up, and soaked in the love and life she shared with her Prince Charming. Her heart was full with the joy they had made together.

Despite her doubts, good had won after all.

Or so Snow thought.

The torches and candles all flickered and wind whipped through the ballroom, ripping courtiers' hair from elegant updos, making their clothes all flap around them. Silence fell instantly. The doors slammed open, and Snow gasped, dread immediately making her stomach sink like a rock.

 _NO_

 _Not again._

And the Evil Queen strode through, in an exact replica of a similar day just over thirteen years before.

Her heels echoed with every step she took, impossibly loud in the otherwise silent room.

David stepped slightly in front of his daughter, shielding her. Emma's heart pounded as she glanced around him, and looked upon the infamous Evil Queen for the first time.

The stories of the reign of the Evil Queen Regina were terrible. The young princess had heard the tales, but in her loved and sheltered existence had little context with which to understand the horrors. Seeing the evil queen in the flesh was like going from a warm spring to being dunked in ice water. Instantly, she understood that there was an opposite of happiness, despair that she could not begin to comprehend.

Emma shivered.

"Well, well, well. What a lovely party!" The red lips turned up in a grin that was intensely predatory. Regina locked eyes with the princess, half shielded behind her father. "What a lovely little princess. About the same age you were, Snow, the first time we met?"

Her head turned, glaring daggers at Queen Snow. Snow's chin lifted, her green eyes gleaming in the flickering torchlight. "What do you want, Regina?"

Regina laughed, a mirthless and hollow laugh that sent chills down Emma's spine. "Why, my dear Snow, I want the same thing I have wanted for a very long time."

"To destroy our happiness." David deadpanned. He pulled his sword, brandishing it at the queen, "You will never win. We will destroy you once and for all!" He shouted the last, launching his sword at the queen.

With a snap of her fingers, it stopped halfway, clattering to the floor.

Her eyes burned with a demonic rage, and she spun on her heel, stalking back toward the door. She spun to face them one last time, with a smirk and a promise.

"The curse will come soon, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Your happy days are numbered, and soon every day will be a nightmare that you will be cursed to live for all eternity. I am looking forward to watching you all suffer."

And the Evil Queen disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

* * *

The next day, Emma was walking through the castle with her younger brother when they passed the door to the council room, cracked open. They could hear their father's voice from inside saying, "No. We can't run. We must stand and fight."

Snow's voice came next, worried. "David, we haven't been able to find her all these years. You can't stand and fight a curse. It isn't an army."

"How do we know there even is a curse? The last curse she threatened never happened." That grumble belonged to Grumpy, the dwarf.

Emma and her brother looked at each other, eyes wide. She put her finger to her lips, and he nodded. They drew closer to the door.

David cleared his throat, but Snow spoke first. "The last curse didn't happen because someone made a deal with the dark one, and stole the key ingredient from Regina. She must have spent all these years finding a replacement."

"But the Dark One promised that the Dark Curse would never be enacted." Gepetto said, confused.

David scoffed, "Does anyone trust that slimy monster?"

The blue fairy's voice came next. "Maybe this curse is a different curse."

"There is no way to know what curse Regina may or may not use. That's why it makes the most sense to track her down and destroy her before she has a chance to do anything!" David said fiercely.

"Maybe… there is a way to find out." Snow mused.

There was a moment of silence.

"You can't be serious, Snow. The Dark One can't be trusted." groaned Grumpy.

Emma's little brother gasped next to her. She glared at him and put her fingers in front of her lips. She needed to hear what was happening.

"He stopped her last time!" Snow said. "Maybe, just maybe, he will stop her again. Or maybe he will tell us how we can."

"We will go tonight." The king said. There was a scraping of a chair being pushed back. Emma and Leo scrambled to hide in an alcove on the other side of the door, shrinking into the shadows. King David would have noticed them if he had been paying attention, but he was lost in thought. He marched right past them, a fierce scowl on his face. They heard their mother's muffled voice still speaking to the gathered council, but the children scampered down the hall in the opposite direction of their father. They had pushed their luck enough.

"Emma," her brother said in a strangled voice, " do you think we should do something to help?"

Emma stopped, grabbing Leo's arm. She looked down into his big blue eyes. "No, Leo." She comforted him, "Mother and Father have done this before. They will protect us all. Evil never wins."

"Are you very sure?" he asked in a small voice. Emma could see the worry in his eyes, so she forced a smile on her face and ruffled his black hair.

"I am very sure, Leo." She lied, grabbing his hand and tugging him after her down the hall. "Let's go out and see if we can find some of the kittens."

Emma managed to distract her little brother, but in Emma's head a plan was forming. She would not stand idly by and ignore the threat to her family.

* * *

The clear evening turned into a cloudless night, leaving plenty of light from the stars and moon to light the way. Emma held her horse by the reins, fifty feet back from the road a few hundred yards outside the castle gate. The horse was a beautiful black mare. Emma had chosen her for her color, which would help her stay hidden in the night. Emma herself wore worn black leather pants, calf length black boots, and a brown shirt. Her black cloak was pulled over her hair, concealing her as completely as she knew how. She waited for nearly an hour before she heard the muffled sounds of horses. They drew closer, and she watched the torchlight pass ever so slowly in front of her, and then further down the road. She waited a minute more before quietly following. She had wrapped he tack in small scraps of cloth to muffle any sounds of metal clinking, and she kept her horse going at a slow pace, barely able to see a hint of the glowing torches in front of her.

She followed the road to a fork, where she had to get out and check the ground to see which way the party had gone. The clearest set of tracks followed the right path, and she took it, daring to let her horse get up to a slow trot until the faintest bit of light was visible on the road in front of her, before slowing back down to a walk. They kept along this road, over a bridge, and onward for over an hour. Emma yawned a little in the saddle.

Thirty minutes on, she nearly missed the small trail that shot off the path to the left.

It was overgrown with trees, the branches covering over the path in places. Unlike the road, which was clear to the sky above it, the path was not lit by moonlight. She definitely would have missed it if not for the freshly trodden grass on the edge of the road where it met the path.

She turned her horse, ducking her head.

The darkness was oppressive, and Emma shivered. She nudged her horse into a trot, fearing the dark more than she feared discovery by her parents.

The ends of branches hit her every now and then, though she rode low against the horse. She could feel the horse starting to balk at the darkness, and tried to soothe her by patting her neck. It was only a short ten minutes before she drew close enough to see the faintest glow of a torch again, and she pulled back on the reins gently, again slowing the horse to a walk. Despite the slow pace, the light only got closer. Emma stopped her horse and dismounted, creeping closer bit by bit.

When she was close enough to make out the torches, she saw that the torch was held in a sconce outside the entrance to a cave. _The mines_ , thought Emma. There were two horses tied to a post outside the mine entrance, with no riders in sight.

In the interest of stealth, Emma led her horse back into the trees a few feet, before loosely tying the reins to a low hanging branch. She patted the horse on the neck and crept to the mine entrance. She peeked inside.

There were tunnels leading in three directions, but only one path was lit. Emma followed it, creeping slowly and carefully along. She reached a turn, and peeked around the corner. She could see that it continued to another turn. She followed it carefully before peeking around the next corner.

This section was a little longer, but she could see lights at the end, and two figures. Her parents had their backs to her. This tunnel was rougher, and darker. She crept closer bit by bit, aiming for a small nook in the rock about fifteen feet back from where her parents stood.

She froze when she heard a high pitched giggle.

"Well isn't this just _charming_." The voice sent chills down her spine and caused all of her hair to stand on end.


	2. A Deal Struck

**Chapter 2:** **A Deal Struck**

Emma darted into the shadowy nook in the rock. She knew, at least, that her parents had not seen her. The nook was deep enough in the rough-hewn cave that she should be safe from discovery. She pressed her back into the cold, damp stone, her heart pounding, and listened.

"How are you enjoying your prison, dark one?" Her father's voice was low and dripping with disdain.

Another giggle that struck a chill in Emma's bones. "I didn't know you cared, _Prince Charming_. It's as cozy as ever down here, as you can see!" The Dark One's voice dropped lower, menacing. "But you didn't come here to check on me. You came here for help."

Snow pleaded, "Please, Regina says she is going to cast a curse. How do we stop her?"

Dark laughter echoed through the cave, seeming to come from every direction at once. "Stop her? Whyever for? It will hardly make a difference to me."

"You know something about this curse. Tell us!" Barked King David.

"Of course I _know_. But why on earth would I tell you?" The voice sing-songed. "You have nothing that I want."

"There must be something," Emma's mother sad, fiercely. "There is _always_ something."

"Oh, dearie," the Dark One chuckled. "Of course there is. Just nothing I want from you."

Emma's father let out a muttered curse. Emma heard a slam, and her father's voice, low and threatening, "Who, then?"

"Why, your little girl, your Majesty!" the Dark One announced, gleefully. Emma's heart thundered in her chest. _He knows I'm here_ , she thought wildly. She had the briefest urge to flee and never look back.

"You will _never_ get anything from our daughter!" David thundered.

Emma steeled herself, her resolve returning. She would do whatever it took. She crouched, pressing herself deeper into the shadows, hearing footsteps. Her parents strode past her, ignoring the laughter echoing behind them and the call, "Oh, but you're wrong! I will get what I want. Don't you worry, your Majesties!"

Emma held her breath as they passed, saying a silent prayer in her head that she wouldn't be discovered. After they passed and turned the corner, she let out the breath she was holding and sagged against the stone. She waited several long moments to make sure they were gone.

"Come on out, dearie. They aren't coming back," said the Dark One.

Emma stepped out into the torchlight, eyes falling on the little man behind the bars of the cell. Calling him a man might be a step too far, but his features still resembled a man more than anything else. He had shoulder-length brown hair, a long, slightly hooked nose, and reptilian looking wide gray eyes. The dark one was small in stature, only an inch taller than the young princess, with mottled gold and brown skin. Everything about him oozed wrongness to Emma, but she forced her feet to step closer in spite of that.

He had a crooked grin on his face, showing his crooked teeth. _A crooked man who makes crooked deals_ , Emma thought. The Dark One was infamous. The greatest Evil in all the lands, they said. Her parents had warned her to never, ever, make a deal with the Dark One. _Magic always comes with a price._

But sometimes prices were worth paying.

"You know who I am." Emma stated, hesitantly, stepping within a few feet of the bars.

The dark one curled his fingers around the bars of his cell, leaning his forehead in the gap between the bars, inspecting the princess. "Of course I know. I knew who you were before you were born. Such an _important_ princess. And you found your way to me. "

Emma drew her courage around her like a cloak, meeting the Dark One's eyes. "And you already know what I want."

The Dark One smiled a little, and said softly, "Yes, I do." He turned, made three long strides away from the bars, then turned on his heel to face her again. "But I won't be stopping the curse, my dear. I need Regina to be… tied up."

"Then what deal do you want to make with me?" Emma's voice was steady. The Dark One always wanted a deal. He had something to give her, and he already knew what price he would ask, she knew. If there was anything that all stories about the Dark One agreed on, it was that. _Play with fire and you are asking to get burned._ Emma's father's voice sounded off in her conscience. She ignored it. Emma was old enough to know that fire was more useful than dangerous.

"Such a brave little princess," The Dark One hissed. He produced a vial from his pocket, and held it up in the light, inspecting it. "The deal is this. You take this potion, and forget that you are the Princess Emma, child of Snow White and Prince Charming, and I will save your family and break the curse."

Emma's heart skipped a beat, realization dawning over her. _He is asking me to give up my family to save them._

 _I will do whatever it takes._

Emma would do anything to save her family. Her throat was tight. "Deal." She whispered. She took the last step and reached her hand through the bars.

The Dark One was there in a flash, pressing the bottle into her hand. " _Are you sure this is what you want?_ " The voice was menacing and low, in stark contrast to the giggling persona that had spoken with Emma's father. The gray, reptilian eyes searched hers. Emma's heart thudded in her chest, her hand closing around the bottle.

A solitary tear made its way past her defenses as she drew the bottle back through the bars, pulling out the cork and putting the bottle to her lips. "You will save my family?"

" _Yes."_

Emma drank.

She stumbled back several steps as the magic took effect. For the briefest moment, Emma appeared dazed. Then her face hardened, and she stood straight once more. She locked eyes with the Dark One, who giggled. She had the nagging feeling that she had seen him before.

"Why hello, dearie. How can I help you?" He asked.

"My name is Emma Swan. I need your help to find my parents."

The Dark One looked her up and down, then clapped his hands together. "Why me, dearie? Have you even tried to find them on your own."

A dark look passed across Emma's face. "Of course I've _tried_." She had spent her entire life trying to track down the parents who had abandoned her. "Nobody ever saw them, they just found me in the woods one day. They didn't even have the decency to leave me with someone."

"So why try to find them," The Dark One drawled, "If they didn't even care enough to keep you?"

"I need to know where I came from."

The dark one giggled. "You want to know if they're looking for you, too. You want someone to _love_ you."

"Perhaps." _Yes_ , she thought.

The dark one steepled his fingers together, and placed them under his chin. "Fortunately for you, my dear, I need someone just like you. You can do something for me that nobody else can. There is a boy, and I want him. If you bring him to me, I will take you to your family. Fail, and I promise you, you will never find them without me."

Emma's heart thudded in her chest. One day, she wouldn't be an orphan. _I will do whatever it takes._ "Deal."

The Dark One cackled gleefully. " _Wonderful._ "

The hair at the nape of Emma Swan's neck stood on end, and she wondered if it were possible that she had heard that echoing cackle before.

* * *

"Stupid, all powerful, wretched, evil, disgusting creature!" Emma viciously kicked a rock as she walked along the road.

" _Just go on your merry way, and the opportunity will find you. You won't have to find it."_ The impish man had said. " _His name is Baelfire."_

Emma snorted. _At least I know the name._

But in a world as large as this one, a name wouldn't do her much good. She couldn't even find her own parents. How did the Dark One expect her to just come across the exact boy he was looking for.

Emma seethed.

As the early dawn light spread through the trees, she wondered what to do now. She had nowhere to go. The village she had been raised in had burned years ago, and she had traveled here and there since, never finding a place to settle. That was why she had used the last of her money to get to this kingdom, to find the Dark One.

 _Useless creature._

Emma put one foot in front of the other. Roads always led somewhere.

When she came to the fork, she went left.

* * *

After walking all day, Emma had passed one small burned out village, and nothing else. The village made her stomach turn, remembering her own village. But there were no bodies in the street, no acrid smell of burned flesh. It was half washed by rain, the smoky smell gone with the passage of time. She passed it by, anyway. Any shelter was better than one that took her back to the horrors of her childhood.

As the sun began to set, she settled in for the night in a small clearing off the side of the road. She shivered against the autumn chill, and pulled her cloak tight around her as she fell asleep.

She was asleep when the shadow took her.


End file.
